Silver Warehou

Available wild-caught, it is a bottom-dwelling marine fish found off the southeastern coast, including Tasmania and Bass Strait, on the continental slope from 450-650m, and caught mainly by bottom trawlers, sometimes as bycatch of Blue Grenadier, with juveniles sometimes caught in bays and estuaries in haul nets.

Season: Available year round with peaks from June to September.

Size and Weight: Commonly 400g-2.2kg and 35-55cm, but can grow to 5.5kg and over 70cm.

Price: Low priced.

Relations:

Blue Warehou and White Warehou (both with less slender bodies and no spots), Blue-Eye Trevalla, Endeavour Dogfish, Roughskin Dogfish, Rudderfish. Should not be confused with Wahoo, a member of the Mackerel family.

To Buy:

Sold whole (gilled and gutted), and as fillets, usually skinned. In whole fish look for lustrous skin with a slippery, mucilaginous coating, firm flesh, and a pleasant, fresh sea smell. In fillets, look for off-white to yellowish, firm, lustrous, moist flesh without any brown markings or oozing water and with a pleasant fresh sea smell.

To Store:

Make sure whole fish is scaled, gilled, gutted and cleaned thoroughly. Wrap whole fish and fillets in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Refrigerate for 1-2 days or freeze for up to 3 months below -18ºC. It spoils quickly and the flesh easily becomes soft if handled poorly.

To Cook:

Average yield is 45%. Has a medium flavour, low-medium oiliness and slightly dry, medium-textured flesh with good sized flakes and few bones, which are easily removed. Remove dark flesh from along the sides of fillets for a milder flavour. Score whole fish at the thickest part of the flesh and cut thick fillets into serving-size portions to allow even heat penetration.

Cooking Methods:

Steam, poach, deep-fry, pan-fry, stir-fry, bake, braise, grill, barbecue, smoke. It is best wrapped in foil or banana leaves if baking or barbecuing, to prevent it drying out.